Artisanal Handcrafted Jewelry
The Difference Is in the Making
Jewelry has always felt to me like something deeply human. It’s older than fashion, older even than language. It’s one of the earliest ways we made meaning visible. We gathered what we found beautiful or powerful and wore it close to the body. That instinct still moves me.
But in the modern world, jewelry is often disconnected from that origin. Mass production has changed not just how jewelry is made, but what it means. In mass production, the goal is to replicate, to reduce variation, to make things faster and cheaper. The piece becomes a product. The maker becomes invisible. And the wearer becomes a number.
Artisanal jewelry is the opposite of that. It holds the trace of the hands that made it. It welcomes irregularity, evolution, discovery. No two pieces are ever truly alike, even if they begin from the same mold or design. I might start with a wax carving, origami or a sketch, but the process always shifts—it responds to the tools, to the metal, to my mood, and to the person I’m making it for. That responsiveness is part of the story.
When I work, I’m not thinking about inventory or sales goals. I’m thinking about how a shape curves, how weight feels against the skin, how light catches a surface. It’s a conversation between material and maker, and eventually, wearer. There’s intimacy in that. A kind of trust.
Mass-produced jewelry has its place. But for me, the value lies in presence—in knowing something was made with care, one at a time, with real attention. That the mark of the maker hasn’t been erased. That the piece you wear wasn’t designed to be for everyone, but somehow still feels like it was meant just for you.
This is the kind of work I believe in. Not because it’s trendy. Not because it scales. But because it matters.
Colleen